Boxed In
by Ridkey
Summary: The engineer did a lot to see him. So the Puppet brought her to his court and offered her a deal. But he's asking too much. - She really is just like HIM, isn't she? Part of the P87lore, set several years before Wozniak's Test. Standalone fic. Minor descriptions of gore/torture near end.


An improved version of an older fic called Follow Through.

Descriptions of torture near the end.

Part of the P87lore, set several years before Wozniak's Test, which you can read on my profile.

* * *

The Puppet stretched out from the box and hovered there, staring down his visitors. The two were unharmed. His friends hadn't laid a hand on them. Well, the rabbit had, and the bear had pushed the engineer when she fell behind, but nothing too harmful. Now they stood behind the two, their black forms absorbing what little light there was in the storage room, like living shadows. TLB tried to ignore them.

He stared at the engineer, and she stared back. TLB's jaw was set, hands tightened into fists. Head held high, eyes filled with defiance. His friends had let her change into her normal clothes. They could've made her take the trip in her pajamas, but they were especially kind tonight. If she were smart, she'd remember that in the future.

But she'd never struck him as being smart. She wouldn't be working for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza if she were.

"You must be very frustrated, to go through all those sleepless nights just to talk to me." The Puppet tilted his head. "Frustrated." His mask never moved when he spoke. "Or scared."

TLB didn't break eye contact.

"I'm not scared of you," she said

He could've smiled. The Puppet chuckled.

"You should be. It won't be long till our gift is prepared." He leaned forward. "I'll understand if you don't let anyone unwrap it."

TLB hesitated, and looked to her guardian. The spirit stood in arm's reach of the shadows, bleeding onto the tile. Just looking at the old night guard sent warmth through the Puppet. Keeping the man trapped in the suit that killed him was one of his best ideas. God, the bastard looked awful. If he looked close enough, the Puppet thought he could see the dead man's tongue inside of the mask. Even though the guard felt no pain anymore, outside of his original prison, seeing him so corrupted soothed the Puppet's tired heart. It was almost like watching the murderer die again.

With a swallow, TLB looked back at him.

"A gift?"

"Yes." The Puppet said. "A very special gift, for all you greedy monsters here that continue to exploit the suffering of children for money!" The night guard flinched. TLB didn't. The Puppet took a moment to contain himself. This was important. This was his first real conversation with someone in over thirty years. He needed to do this right.

"But." The words hung over her head. "I'll let you decide what to do with it. A gift can't be given if there's no one to give it to."

"What are you saying?"

And once again, he was the smartest person in the room.

"Burn it, TLB." The Puppet thrust his arm out. "Burn this place to the ground like I burned down Fazbear's Fright. Erase any trace of its existence from the world. If you do that, you'll be free." He paused. "And we will be too."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" The night guard was talking, again "How would destroying this location set you free? You weren't freed when we closed before. And. Well." He shook his head, blood spurting from under the Freddy head. "She can't erase everything. She doesn't have that kind of power."

"I don't care." The Puppet looked back to TLB. "You'll find a way. Won't you, TLB?"

Her jaw muscles flexed. Fists clenched. Eyes narrowed. The Puppet couldn't react in time. Her right leg swung out, hard. Her foot hit the box. With a crack that echoed through his heart, her foot went through the ancient wood.

The Puppet screamed.

"My box!" He spun back to her. "You bitch!" His home, his hell. His property, the only thing he owed. And she was smiling. She smiled as she pulled her foot back through the hole. He knew that face. He'd seen it on a blood soaked man years before.

She was just like him. She was just. Like. Him.

"I'm done playing nice with you," the Puppet curled his long talons. The smile dropped from her face. "You two" he pointed to his friends. "Grab her. We're going to make her _pay_ for that."

TLB went pale. Her mouth moved but his friends were faster. She screamed as they grabbed her arms, rabbit on the left, bear on the right.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?!" The Puppet ignored the night guard's panic, and focused.

"Stop that! Get away from her!"

"Let go of me!" TLB reached for her friend. "Help!"

The Puppet felt TLB's body hit the floor as he pulled them to his realm.

A young man close to TLB might find the place familiar. Darkness faded into darkness. Stark silhouettes of white walls disappeared into the black. Once, there had been balloons leading into the heavens and hiding places of his children. But there were no balloons now, because of that man's failure. There was no hope for them, and there would be no hope for her, either. Not here. Not the in world where he pulled the strings.

TLB screamed. The two shadows threw her down. A floor caught her. She twisted up, eyes wild, and saw him. The Puppet brought the walls up around her. TLB shrieked, covering her face as the darkness closed in. Four sides and a lid locked around her. The Puppet floated up to it and with a ceremonial snap of his fingers, sealed it with a ribbon and bow.

She pounded on the walls of the box. Feet and fists hit the wall with strength that should bruise, but they never gave. Try breaking this one, lady, the Puppet thought with satisfaction.

"Let me out of here!" TLB's shouts were muffled. "Hey! Let me out! This isn't funny! Where the hell am I? Let me out! Puppet!"

And now she wanted to beg. That was how the adults worked, didn't they? Corner them with their crimes and they'd act like panicked animals.

The Puppet scratched the top of the box with his claws as he thought. Ice settled into his heart. He hadn't anticipated this. He'd thought she'd have more sense – no, he hadn't considered her violence at all. It happened so rarely – he'd only seen her do it three times – but any violence was something to be concerned about.

If he'd expected this, he'd would've prepared a better punishment. Something sharp and ironic and so painful to that heart she'd wrapped up in her selfishness. But he'd never learned that the living liked to surprise him. He'd have to improvise.

"You want to break things so much TLB?" The pounding on the box stopped as he spoke. "That sounds like fun. I think breaking you would be very entertaining."

He felt her breathing halt, her pulse pick up. The lid of the box began to shake. TLB pounded and pushed and screamed for her freedom. The Puppet pulled away.

"Don't struggle," he said. "You can't escape this realm anyway. Not until I say you can."

The box fell. TLB screamed as she fell into the black. The shadows disappeared, and the Puppet followed her down.

She was crying in her sleep.

The Puppet shifted through the shadows, slowing to a stop over the adult's bed. TLB's breathing was deep. Her purple comforter was smooth and unruffled. An ancient Bonnie plushie rested face down near her elbow. Someone was sleeping soundly for a change. The Puppet snorted. She should be grateful he wore her out.

There wasn't much time for a visit. Her guardian would only be gone for thirty minutes, if that. The old night guard had become so aggressive, the Puppet's friends struggled to eliminate him as a team. He'd forced the Puppet to limit their check-ins on any human, not just the Bonnie team leader. But the children were safe. As usual, he ignored them any time their paths crossed in the workshop.

For once, the Puppet wasn't angry about that.

He drifted down. Stopping just before his pointed feet touched the ground, the Puppet leaned over the woman until her breath brushed against the front of his mask. TLB didn't stir. She must be sleeping deeper than usual. He'd done this before, not recently, but more than once, and every time he'd gotten away with it, she'd been sleeping off some emotional trauma. This time, he'd caused it.

Her face was pristine. Motionless eyelids, parted lips, flushed cheeks, untangled hair. Too perfect to believe. Something that belonged in an old painting or an advertisement. Something as fake as her so-called 'devotion' to Freddy Fazbear's. But the tears were real. They flowed steady from her eyes, streaming down her cheeks onto her pillow and hair. The Puppet shook her head. She looked pretty now, but she'd have a mess to clean up in the morning.

One of the adult's arms was outside the comforter. The Puppet could almost see her reaching out to take her guardian's bloody hand. The thought would've made his blood boil, if he had any.

In his mind, he imagined her arm was still damaged by what he'd did to her. Bruises darkening fast. Flesh exposed to the broken bone. Fingernails broken and caked in black. Just what she deserved. Well deserved payback not just for breaking his box, but for the months of pain she'd put them all through.

The Puppet sighed and straightened up. He folded his arms and stared down at her.

"I hope you haven't forgotten my offer, TLB," he mumbled. "It'd be a real shame for things to get worse."


End file.
